After an Elite Eight run, Tennessee basketball has hammered the transfer portal for five commitments inside the top-100-rated players available. However, one major domino is yet to fall. Freshman phenom Nate Ament has yet to announce a decision regarding a potential return or declaration for the 2026 NBA Draft.
If Ament wants to keep that option open, he’s going to have to declare sooner rather than later, though. The deadline to declare for the NBA draft is this Friday, April 24, at 11:59 p.m. ET. The expectation is that Ament will declare, but that doesn’t automatically rule him out of a return to college. Instead, he could enter while maintaining his eligibility until May 27, when he’d officially have to decide.
The transfer portal also closes on April 21. That means if Ament wants to keep the option of going to any college of his choosing open for a potential sophomore season, he’d need to enter the portal by then. However, it’d be a truly shocking development if he chose to return to college and not play at Tennessee.
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The general buzz around Ament is that if he’s a top-10 pick, then he’s almost certainly going to leave. If he slips to a late lottery pick, between picks 11-14, it could be up for more of a discussion, though most insiders still lean toward a declaration for the draft in that case.
If Ament slips out of the lottery in the eyes of NBA teams, it could be really interesting, though. That’s when a potential return is fully on the table in an attempt to raise his draft stock. However, Vols assistant coach Gregg Polinsky doesn’t think that will happen.
“Of course, he’s gotta go (to the draft),” Polinsky said on FanRun radio. “Unless his people, his family is great with him coming back. They’re amazing. Amazing family. But if he were my son, I’m telling him he’s got to go. Look, if he’s hearing a number that, meaning not money, but hey, you’re probably going to go 18-25, really? Okay, well, maybe I consider coming back. But I doubt it, guys. I’m going to be surprised if his name is not called in the lottery. And how high it can be in the lottery, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So happy we had Nate Ament, and he shared his life and his talent with us. It’ll be one of the great things that I’ll remember, I’ll tell you that.”
As a freshman, Ament produced 16.7 points per game on 39.9% shooting from the field and 33.3% from range. He also contributed 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per contest. However, Ament was far from healthy down the stretch. After missing the final week of the regular season, he gritted his way back into action for the SEC and NCAA Tournaments, though.
